Tag Archives: subscriptions

We are at an interesting point with technology where more and more media can be accessed any time and any where with a monthly subscription cost. The subscriber does not own any of the media, but they can stream from a library of various media. At one point do consumers no longer really own the media, but instead decide to just use various subscription services to always have access to a multitude of options. There are subscription services that allow you to gain one new item a month, but then for a similar cost you don’t own and just have access. The only issue is the fact that you then only have access as long as you keep paying. So truly at what point does someone say that the subscription is enough. Continue reading →

Like this:

Time was, everyone had a TV and got some channels and all watched the same things together. Or, you know, a slightly more complicated version of that sentiment. Then along came cable, and who had what channels got fractured further and further. Sometimes you could tailor what you wanted (like adding premium channels, or sports channels), sometimes there were just set packages of channels – or even gigantic access with hundreds of channels.

Along came the Internet and streaming services, and it was great – with one or two of these, we could cover most of the television we wanted to watch. Or at least, as much (and more) television as we could fit into our lives! As Holly discussed recently, the different networks and channels are all trying to forage out into their own streaming apps, with some never having really given access to Hulu or Netflix, and others dropping access. So once upon a time, you just went to your TV and surfed channels. Then we got one subscription service that had them all, dropped cable, and now they’re splintering out. We’ve gone from having one point of access to many, where I had originally been predicting years ago that we would be moving more and more to these large subscription services.

But hey, the other reason we dropped cable was because the shows and channels we watch most regularly are actually YouTube channels. Independent creators, striking out on their own, making a go of it on this amazing online platform. One stop shop for all your video needs, where before videos and the sorts of things that became YouTube were scattered across the Internet. At least that won’t change, right?

Yeah, you guessed it, wrong.

In the last week or two, not one, not two, but three of our favorite channels have been advertising their new content on paid subscription services outside of YouTube. Since we’ve already talked about the TV angle on this, which has been happening for much longer really, let’s take a minute to look at this YouTube/online video move…